Sasuke's Soul Society
by balakafalata
Summary: After Sasuke and Naruto die at VoTE Naruto disappears. Sasuke goes to Soul Society and becomes a Shinigami while trying to find a way to save Naruto. This fic is centered around Sasuke. There is very little Naruto
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! I'm really excited for this story. I am literally BEGGING you to review and tell me what you think. I do not own Naruto or Bleach. **

**Note: this story is centered around Sasuke. Sasuke spends a lot of time thinking about Naruto, but Naruto will only appear in this chapter and flashbacks (maybe later but it's too hard to explain it now)**

Naruto and Sasuke were confused. Very confused, really like one second they are fighting to the death and the next they are just standing there, looking confused. The first thing is that Sasuke was confused first, he realized as soon as he came up from the water that Naruto wasn't even looking at him anymore, Naruto was looking at, him. Okay so there are two Sasukes. Then, there were two Narutos as well. The Naruto and Sasuke that were looking at their duplicates had a plate on their chests that connected to chain. Which brings me back to them being very confused.

"Ano, what happened, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, hoping Sasuke would answer. He looked down at himself and realized that not only were there two of him, but he was all healed while the other him laying on the ground was so injured that he could be, dead.

"Are we dead Sasuke? Sasuke answer me teme!" But he didn't realize that Sasuke was in pain until he turned to punch him for ignoring him.

Sasuke had doubled over in pain and he was clutching at his neck. Right above the cursed seal. Naruto watched as a white mist rose from his body, separating from him. As soon as it separated completely, it started to take form. Its body hardened into what looked like Sasuke when he released the seal, except it had a white bone mask over its face. Naruto waited for the thing to attack them, but it never did. It simply ran off into the forest.

Naruto quickly went over to where Sasuke was after he had collapsed. Sasuke was crying. "I'm so sorry Naruto, I'm so sorry. I couldn't stop. It was the seal, Naruto. It messed with my head. It made me think things that weren't real. You're the best friend that I've had since Itachi ruined my life, maybe even before that. I'm so sorry, Naruto. Can you forgive me?" He looked so weak.

"Of course I forgive you, Sasuke. I knew it wasn't really you. I knew that you wouldn't really do that to me. I'm just kinda pissed that we had to die first. Hehe"

"Stupid dobe, what was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. Maybe listened to me and admit that I'm right?"

"In your dreams, dobe."

Naruto gave a large grin, while Sasuke gave a small smile of his own. This was familiar to both of them. Until, Naruto clutched at his stomach in agony.

"Damn, teme this does hurt. But in the end I'll be okay, right, just like you. The monster will be gone." Naruto could barely speak through the pain, but that could be due to the fact that his seal was in his stomach, while Sasuke's was just on his neck.

"Of course, dobe, as soon as the pain is gone we won't have to worry about Kyuubi any longer." Naruto had collapsed to the ground and curled into a ball. Sasuke reached down to him, trying to help his friend. "It's okay, Naruto, you've been through more than this, you can do it." His words of encouragement did little as Naruto started to scream, an inhuman howl. Instead of Sasuke's white mist, a red mist rose from Naruto's body. Naruto himself was clinging to Sasuke just as sasuke had done when apologizing. A whirlwind picked up around them and tried to take Naruto out of Sauke's arms but he held on tight.

"Sasuke! Don't let go. Don't you dare let me go, Sasuke!"

"I won't Naruto. I won't let you go and that is a promise. It'll be over soon Naruto. Then we can go back to Konoha."

"Really, Sasuke?"

"Yeah, I'll go back and never leave again. I'll never leave you again Naruto. We're friends 'till the end"

"Friends 'till the end. I like that."

He looked up for no more than a second, but it was enough, for there in the sky was a set of open doors. They were red and black and had depictions of skeletons of them. The whirlwind was coming from them. Sasuke's jaw slacked at the sight, but unfortunately his grip did too. Naruto's still shaking body, now almost covered in red mist, was wrenched from his arms.

"No! Naruto!"

"Sasuke!" Naruto reached for Sasuke's hand, but they were too far away. Sasuke reached for Naruto, and in a burst of speed grabbed onto his arms, not even registering that they were floating in midair.

"Sasuke, I hate to admit this but I'm scared."

"It's okay Naruto I'm scared too."

"You promised me that you wouldn't let go, Sasuke."

"No, Naruto I won't. I won't let this take you away from me, so soon after you've forgiven me."

"Sasuke, they're doors. They are not going to give up. Something is going to go through before they are going to close."

"No, Naruto. Don't even think about it."

"I already did Sasuke. You deserve your second chance"

"No, you deserve a second chance much more than I do, Naruto. Don't do this" Sasuke's grip was slipping.

"Remember Sasuke, it's not your fault. I forgive you. Now let go"

"I promised I wouldn't let go and I will keep that promise, no matter what you say" they both new he was lying. They could both feel his grip slipping.

"Goodbye, Sasuke-teme" Naruto tugged his arms back, breaking Sasuke's hold on him.

Sasuke fell out of the air with a thud, and looked up to see Naruto's final grin as he was sucked through the Gates of Hell.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to WhatDoYouMeanI'mDrunk for your great review. I have planned ahead, but there is always room for new ideas. Especially when there won't be any review conflicts because you are the only one who reviewed!**

Sasuke fell out of the air with a thud, and looked up to see Naruto's final grin as he was sucked through the Gates of Hell.

"No" Sasuke had not been this devastated since his family died. Naruto was his family and now he was dead too.

Sasuke was not surprised when he saw Kakashi. He was too late. Kakashi walked straight past him and took the bodies. Sasuke considered going after him, back to Konoha. There was no point anymore, he was dead. The living can't see him.

He sat at the edge of the lake, looking up at the waterfall and the statues he and Naruto had nearly destroyed. A gasp from behind him startled him out of his thoughts.

"Wow, this place is so cool. I've never seen it before. What is it called?"

So it was a crazy person. Perfect. Sasuke simply turned around, not wanting to look at the crazy.

"Oy, bastard, don't ignore me!" Sasuke's eyes widened. Could this stranger see him?

"Can you see me?" The stranger smiled, just like Naruto used to. Sasuke shook his head to clear the thoughts.

"Of course I can see you. I am Uchiha Obito, third seat of the sixth division." Sasuke took another look at the stranger. He knew who Obito was and this stranger definitely is him. Obito was wearing a black kimono and carried a sword.

"What are you? You're dead"

Obito chuckled and replied "I, am a shinigami. We protect good souls, pluses, like you and get rid of bad souls, which are called hollows."

_Protect me, but not Naruto_ Sasuke thought. Aloud he asked, "What happens now?"

Obito chuckled again, "Now," he unsheathed hi sword "Now you go to soul society" Sasuke panicked as Obito raised his sword but there was no pain when he simply tapped his forehead with the end of the handle.

Sasuke felt at peace for the first time in so long. He didn't have to worry about fighting, revenge or… who? There was someone? What was their name? This thought brought chaos back to his mind; Orochimaru, the Hokage, the village, the curse seal, the exam, Itachi, HIM; so many thoughts! He wanted to feel the peace again! He wanted it to be quiet! So it was. The memories faded and he traveled on, but it nagged him. What was the name, the person that he should never forget? He could not pick and choose his memories; it was either all or none. This time he braved the storm, and it was worth every second. Naruto. His name was Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

Sasuke awoke in a bed this time. There was a doctor standing over him. Sasuke pushed him aside as he sat up.

"Well," the doctor said, "Now that you are awake there is no longer a need for me to be here."

Sasuke ignored him as he left. Getting up he looked around the small apartment that he was in. It had its own living room, a full kitchen, two bath rooms, and two bedrooms. It was a suite. He found clothes already in the closet, all fitted to his size already. He put them on and wandered outside, hoping he could figure out where he was.

Looking around, he noticed that the area that he lived in consisted of large mansions and apartment buildings just like his. It seemed that no one was poor. However as he continued walking, it seemed as though the place was designed in a spiral, the richer people in the middle, and the poorer ones outside. In the very center there was a wall surrounding an inner complex. After walking for a few hours, he got hungry and headed back to the center. It did not escape his notice that there were very few restaurants around. Finding one that was suitable he ordered some chicken. As soon as he was about to eat, a hush formed outside. He looked over to see someone he thought was not particularly outstanding, but apparently the people did not feel the same way. Even the arrogant, haughty people who believed themselves to be virtual royalty bowed to him. The only thing that Sasuke noticed that was out of the ordinary was that this man was wearing the same type of black kimono that Obito had worn. That made this man another shinigami.

Sasuke decided to learn more about shinigami later. He turned to talk to the person serving his food. "Where exactly is this place?"

The man's eyes widened and he smiled. "I hadn't thought that I'd ever seen you here before. I didn't think that a young boy like you would be recently dead. These must be bad times in the living world." The man saw Sasuke's confused look and continued to talk, "Well, you are in soul society. This is the place where souls go after they die. The different districts are reserved for how people live their lives. You must have done great things to end up in the first district. The fact that you're hungry also means that you have enough reiatsu to become a shinigami."

Sasuke processed the information the man gave him, filing it away for inspection later. He did however ask "How is it that I become a shinigami?"

The man answered, "Well for that you have to apply for the Academy," Sasuke groaned, not another academy. "Yes the academy, and from there who knows. Only shinigami do and they never share with us normal souls."

Sasuke followed the man from the street, and found him going into the inner-city walls. This is where the shinigami live, so this is where Sasuke will go. Unfortunately that was easier said than done. He couldn't get through the wall. He was so frustrated that he jumped into the air when he heard a very familiar chuckle from behind him. It was Obito.

"So, you trying to get in?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Now what would give you that idea?" He replied sarcastically.

"So you remember me?" He seemed amazed.

"Yes, why wouldn't I?"

"Well, you see most people don't have the will to remember their pasts. Almost everyone gives in and forgets." The peace.

"Well, I have someone that I don't want to forget." Obito was back at being happy.

"Ooh, a girlfriend? No? A boyfriend then?"

"No! Absolutely not!" Just because he had never been interested in the girls that routinely through themselves at him, did not mean that he was gay. He had always planned on rebuilding his clan, but he was twelve years old really! "I am here trying to find a way to go to the academy." That should bring him back

"Why would anyone _want _to go the Academy?"

"I want to go to the academy so that I can become a shinigami."

"Ah, well, I see then. I can help"

He walked up to the wall and it separated for him. "Well come on then, I can't wait for you all day." And so Sasuke started his training, again.

**Horrible ending, I know, but hopefully things will pick up soon.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Short and late chapter, sorry. I do not own Sasuke or the events that occurred in the anime, Naruto. Nor do I own the concept of Shinigami and the Bleach universe.**

**Frozen Wolf13 is now my Beta for this story. Snaps for him**.

**Note: This part of the story takes place many thousand years before the manga/anime of Bleach starts. I need OC's 1) because I am bad at names and 2) I'm too lazy to try and find Japanese names., so if anyone has suggestions please tell me.**

* * *

Sasuke followed Obito to what he assumed is the academy building. It was near the wall on the west side of the inner compound, which Obito had explained was called Sereitei. Sasuke signed his name on the paper that made him officially a student of the Shinigami Academy, noting Obito's raised eyebrows at the name Uchiha. It was only once they were walking towards Sasuke's new dorm room, arms laden with new clothes and necessities, that he asked the question that Sasuke knew he had been wanting to ask, only been either too frightened or wanting to be polite.

"I thought that all of the Uchiha's died a long time ago. Who are you?"

"If you don't remember your life, then how do you know that all of them died?"

Sasuke's face was stone. Even after he had died, he found that he disliked the topic of his family just as much as he did when he was alive.

"Well, we just assumed. I was almost done with the academy by then. I graduated earlier than I was supposed to because the others were so overloaded with all of the new souls. None of the new souls remembered what happened. All they knew was that they were related, and, although I didn't see it, the scene in the real world was gruesome enough that no one pushed them to try to remember. What happened to make nearly fifty people die in one night?"

He spoke fast, wanting to get the words out as quickly as possible. As much as it hurt Sasuke to tell the story, he felt that he owed Obito the truth. The others would know in time.

"It was known in Konoha as the Uchiha Massacre. It was the night when, just as you said, the entire Uchiha clan was wiped out. I was about seven years old at the time, but I will always remember that night. The Uchiha's were betrayed, by someone within their own ranks. My brother, Uchiha Itachi, was the one that killed them. You don't have to worry about remembering him as he was only a baby when you died. He was made an ANBU captain when he was thirteen years old. It was later that year that he killed them."

Obito was shocked. That was not surprising, it was a shocking event that made even veteran ANBU empty their stomachs.

"Wow. I knew it was bad, but I never imagined that it would be that bad."

He stilled, recalling and replaying Sasuke's speech in his head. Sasuke already knew what Obito was going to ask next, but let him do it on his own, and wondered how he was going to answer.

"Do you know haw I died, even though it was before you were born?"

Sasuke nodded solemnly.

"Yes, I know how you died. Your team was separated and it was just you and Hatake Kakashi. You were attacked and he was injured, but you saved his life by taking his place. You died a hero."

"But how do you know?"

"I know because Hatake Kakashi is, was, my sensei. He used to be a real hard ass about the rules and regulations, while you were more of a free spirit, choosing to protect your precious people instead of following rules. After you died he changed. The motto that he us was not complete obedience to the law, but this 'Those that break the rules are trash, but those that abandon their friends are worse than trash'. I wish that I had lived by that earlier."

Obito was once again thoughtful. It must be hard for people that don't remember, but meet someone who does. They have to live up expectations that they don't remember; trying to be a person that they aren't.

* * *

They arrived at his room. Obito had not said anything else the rest of the way. He stayed to help put Sasuke's stuff away, and then left silently with the glazed look still in his eyes. 'I'll give him some time to process. It must be difficult, getting all of this information at once.'

Sasuke was still tidying up his things when his roommate entered. He was sweating, probably from working out or practicing. Sasuke just stood there, awkwardly waiting for him to introduce himself.

"Yo, you must be new, well obviously since you're here and all. I'm Azazel Daisuke and we are probably going to be spending a lot of time together. The teachers are too lazy to make groups and don't trust us to make our own so they just pair roommate together for projects and the like."

Daisuke smiled, not a lot, but he was friendly enough. It was worthwhile to be nice.

"Hey, I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I really don't care what the teachers do."

Ok starting…now.

Daisuke just shrugged and went to the shower room. Sasuke finished organizing and got out some of his books. He started with the general one, just to skim so that he wouldn't be utterly clueless on his first day of classes. His gaze stopped, his eyes widened as they focused of one picture. It was a picture of a pair of doors with two halves of a skeleton on the front.

'Naruto' He thought 'I will save you'


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay, really long chapter!**

**Thank Frozen Wolf13 or I would have been too sad to write this chapter.**

**Drake G. Reaper: I'm sorry but, Naruto is in Hell, I can't tell you whether or not he will come back. This chapter will explain it more **

**An arrancar is created by removing the mask of a hollow and a hollow is created when a whole soul spends too much time in the real world and goes bad**

A month later, Sasuke woke up excited. It was the first day that the students were going to work on using spells instead of learning the theories behind them. Sasuke had missed using the jutsus that he worked so hard to perfect in life. He was positive that his time as a shinobi would place him well ahead of his peers.

He quickly showered and got dressed in the uniform. Daisuke was a late riser and Sasuke didn't know if he had the patience to wait for him. Getting to the training room, he sat next to a boy who was just a little bit older than him. His name was Tsuusetsu Nadakai. They had met on Sasuke's second day at the academy.

_My First Flashback!!_

_Only one day into the year and already Sasuke was working in the library. He was surrounded by books that made an effective barrier against any outsiders._

_Nadakai was carrying a huge bag into the library to find that someone else had taken his seat. The only thing he could see was a tuft of black hair peaking from somewhere underneath the pile of books covering the table. Standing over the person, he looked over their shoulder to see what they were reading._

"_Wow, Fumio-sama's superior spell-casting. Iwao-sensei must be working you newbies hard this year. He really is made of stone__** (1)**__."_

_The boy at the table looked up, startled but did not say anything. Nadakai laughed._

"_Yo."_

_Sasuke scowled at the older student that interrupted his reading. _

"_What do you want?" He said_

_Nadakai sighed dramatically, "What do we all want out of this life?"_

_Sasuke glared even more, then smirked and answered, "Peace and quiet."_

"_Oi, oi, that wasn't funny! Now you hurt my feelings and I'm going to have to beat you up."_

And thus, it was the beginning of a (beautiful?) friendship

_End of first Flashback!!_

Even though Nadakai was older, all of the students that had spells class at this time learned together. They just learned different materials.

"Ne, Uchiha-kun, you nervous? Wouldn't want you to completely embarrass yourself in front of all your friends. That happened to this one kid in my class, he dropped out a few days later. I would hate to lose my favorite freshmen."

"Tsuusetsu-sempai, I was a strongest rookie shinobi of the greatest village in all of the elemental countries. I had the best training and my family had been the best for generations before me. It is in my blood to succeed." He said this all with a straight face, somehow.

"You had better be, or else you won't get into that new training program, only the top students can. Good luck, the teacher is here."

Sasuke stood in line with the rest of the students in his class. Approximately fifty feet away were training dummies. The teacher stood in front of the students and separated them into groups of three. Sasuke was paired with Daisuke and a girl named Laroque Kiku.

"Alright," The teacher started, "We will begin with Bakudo number 1 and only Bakudo number 1." At the last part he seemed to be looking at a group on the other side of the line and the entire class started giggling. "Now, begin!"

Kiku went first but her spell only lasted for a second before dropping. Daisuke held his for about three seconds. Then it was Sasuke's turn. He walked up to the line and said, "Bakudo one, Sai" The others were surprised that he had gotten rid of the incantation, but were even more surprised when the spell held for over thirty minutes; a record.

"Woah, that was amazing, Uchiha-san!" Kiku said, "How did you do it so well without the incantation?"

"As a shinobi, I did not use long incantations to perform jutsu, so I thought that it would be easier to do spells that way." He answered, proud with himself for thinking ahead and researching.

"Sugoi, Uchiha- san will get picked for the new training program for sure. Azazel-san too. I don't have good enough grades for that." Kiku said.

"Don't worry Kiku-chan," Daisuke comforted her, "You still have a few years to get better."

After the class let out, Sasuke met up with Obito. They had become closer over the last month. They would often talk about their daily lives in soul society. Obito rarely had much work to do, but every once in a while he would get a mission that would take him away from sereitei then he would come back to tell Sasuke all about it. Sasuke never went to visit his family though. It would be too painful, but Obito told him that they were all staying inside the walls; all together. He might have even seen them sometimes, but he never tried to talk to them. They weren't even Uchihas anymore; the official name of the clan was Kuchiki now.

Today though, Obito brought news from the Captain Commander himself: Namikaze Minato. He and the Sandaime, who was his vice captain, remembered. It had taken a while for them to clear their busy schedules but the three of them were to meet at 3:00, which was in about five minutes. "WHY DIDN"T YOU TELL ME SOONER, OBITO-BAKA!" So Sasuke ran across sereitei in record time.

He arrived at the meeting place at exactly 3:00:00. It was not the formal chamber, but a more casual setting. When he arrived, he immediately dropped to one knee, this being the formal greeting of a shinobi to his Kage.

The Sandaime smiled, but said, "Uchiha- kun, I am no longer your Hokage. There is no need to kneel."

Sasuke slowly got up, his cheeks slightly red from embarrassment. "Sorry, habit."

"It's alright, Uchiha-kun." The Yondaime reassured him. "Actually, part of the reason I wanted to speak with you was concerning the details of your death. We got a strange reading around the time that you were collected."

"That is something I wanted to talk to you about as well, Namikaze-sama. Not long after we died, the Gates of Hell opened. I have researched, but I cannot figure out why they took him. The Gates appear when they detect a naturally 'bad' soul. They appeared for the Kyuubi, not Naruto. He doesn't belong there, but he is."

The Yondaime turned Captain Commander looked at Sasuke sadly. "I'm sorry Uchiha-kun, but there is no way to summon the Gates. Even if there was, souls only go one way."

Sasuke's eyes widened at the implications of his words. "But, there must be a way! We can't abandon him! Naruto is innocent; the Gates took him by mistake!"

"There is nothing that can be done, I'm sorry."

Sasuke, in his fury, stormed out of the room. He ran, far away from Sereitei, deep into the fields surrounding the city. He needed to think, he needed to leave. He needed to find a way to save Naruto.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in sereitei, Minato and the Sandaime continued the conversation.

"Minato-kun, are you sure that there is nothing that can be done?"

"Sarutobi-san, there is only one person that can summon the Gates of Hell, and no one can contact him."

"Who, whoever they are we can find them. I know Naruto enough to know about everything that he has suffered because of you. He does not deserve the endless torment of Hell. Please Minato-kun, do not think of him as your mistake, think of him as your son."

At this, the Yondaime's eyes widened in realization of what he had been doing. He had ceased to think of Naruto as a human being, but as a jinchuriki.

"As much as I wish that I could save an innocent life from Hell, the daemons will not be persuaded to let any soul good or bad leave their clutches."

"It seems that you underestimate the bonds that Sasuke and Naruto share. Naruto died to keep his promise and Sasuke will do anything to keep his." Sandaime looked out the window, thinking of what he had seen while watching over his surrogate grandson. He remembered the times that Sasuke and Naruto shared, saving eachother's lives and he knew they would save each other even in death. "Just because you refuse to help him does not mean that Sasuke will give up on his quest to save Naruto. I cannot help the feeling that this will be our downfall."

**(1) – Forgive the pun. I couldn't help it. In order to find names, because nobody would give me any OCs, I look them up with their translations. Iwao means something like 'stone man'.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yay!This is my longest chapter ever. It's like five or six pages! I hope it is written better and you all like it. I don't own Naruto or Bleach. I keep on forgetting the disclaimer.**

**WhatDoYouMeanI'mDrunk: I know, I'm really trying to make this fic go slowly, it's just not working! I understand what you mean by 'you can't really connect with the characters' and I'm working on it.**

**Narilyte: It does say in the summary that Naruto appears very little. If you don't like stories like that, then don't read them. I understand how you feel though and I think it is because I haven't made it completely clear what's going on. Naruto is listed as a main character because, although he does not appear, he is very important to the plot. It probably does not make any sense right now, but hopefully it will.**

Sasuke just kept on running. He needed to clear his head. He had never run when he was alive; not for enjoyment anyway, just to keep in shape. He felt free. This was what Lee must have always meant about expressing your youth.

As he ran, he saw a mountain. Heading towards it, he noticed that there was a cave. He ran to it; up the mountainside. He stood in the cave at the edge of the mountain and looked out. From there, he could see Sereitei on the horizon. Naruto would have loved this view. Sasuke could imagine the sun setting behind it. He could imagine seeing the silhouette of the great shinigami city and he knew that Naruto could have sat there all day just to stare at it. Sasuke vowed that Naruto would get the chance to see all of the beautiful things that Sasukewas seeing. No matter what the captain commander said; there had to be a way to save Naruto and Sasuke would find it.

He took out a knife from his pocket. Old habits die hard. He made no sound as he brought the knife up to his hand and cut his palm, letting the blood slide onto the floor of the cave. After a few drops, he recited, "I vow on my blood, the blood of the Uchiha, that I will save Naruto. I will keep that promise because that is _my _nindo, _my_ ninja way".

* * *

When Sasuke returned to Sereitei, he spent his time, either practicing or studying. He practiced to become strong enough so that no obstacle would stand in the way of freeing Naruto. He studied every book in the library to find any reference, no matter how small, to a way that he could free Naruto.

His hard work in class was well noticed by the teachers. Indeed, he became the top of the class and was soon competing with older years. It was no surprise to anyone else when he was picked for the new training program. It was experimental, but if it worked well then soon it would become a part of the academy curriculum. Of course Sasuke got picked, but happily Nadakai, Kiku, and Daisuke were chosen too.

On the first day of the new class, the four friends decided to meet.

"Oi, Daisuke-san, get your ass out of bed, we're going to be late if you're not up soon." Sasuke was used to his roommates sleeping habits by now, but they still annoyed him.

Daisuke groaned and rolled over in the bed, putting his back to his roommate. Sasuke all but growled as he glared at Daisuke. Then, he gave a small smirk and went to the bathroom, coming back with a bucket of cold water and promptly dumped it on his roommate. Daisuke shrieked as the cold water his him and he ran to the bathroom. When Sasuke heard the shower start, he nodded to himself and continued his routine. The cold bucket of water worked every time on every person, no matter how heavy a sleeper they were. Sasuke remembered a time on a mission, when he and Naruto had trained so much the night before that Kakashi-sensei had to get water from the lake and dump it on them.

Daisuke left the bathroom, one towel around his waist and using a smaller one to dry his hair. He glared at Sasuke and walked over to his dresser to find his clothes.

"You didn't have to do that, you know. I would've gotten up eventually." He said. It was true though, even though he woke up abominably late, he was never late to class.

"I know, but we have to meet Nadakai-san and Kiku-san. They will be mad if we are late and I will be mad if I am late because of you." Sasuke did not look at Daisuke but kept on getting ready.

"Alright, alright, I'm getting ready now." Daisuke grumbled, pulling on his clothes.

"Let's go."

They walked down the hallway, past groups of other students starting their day. They looked at the pair in awe, wishing that they had been chosen. Sasuke just walked, paying no attention to the other people in the hallway, but Daisuke was living it up, he winked and whistled at girls that walked by. They blushed and he grinned at their embarrassment.

It was Sasuke's turn to laugh though, when Daisuke got too carried away and Kiku appeared out of nowhere to whack him over the head. When she heard his laugh, she turned to him with a glare.

"And what are you laughing about, hm?" she said

Sasuke made an innocent face and replied, "Nothing"

Kiku gave him one more suspicious look before turning. As soon as she looked away Daisuke and Sasuke broke down into fits of silent laughter, Daisuke at Kiku's reaction, and Sasuke at Daisuke's antics with Kiku. 'They make a good couple' he thought. It was like Ino and Shikamaru, except Daisuke wasn't as lazy. 'Maybe it was a bad idea for him to help Kiku with her confidence, because now she is a terror.' He thought again.

They waited for another minute for Nadakai to show up. In that time, Daisuke acquired a few more bruises and bumps on his head, while Sasuke stood back to watch.

Nadakai walked down the hallway to come to the sight of a cowering Daisuke and an angry Kiku. He raised an eyebrow and turned to Sasuke, who was leaning against the wall. Sasuke just shook his head and said, "Don't ask. You don't want to know"

After dragging Kiku and Daisuke away, they all headed for the special room that the new class would take place in. Once again, they all stood in a long line and they were placed into groups of three. This time Sasuke, Daisuke, and Nadakai were all placed in a group together. Kiku was in a group with another girl and a guy that they didn't know.

The point of the first practice was to see how well they worked in teams. Sasuke did not miss the references to Konoha's training program. They had mock battles with other groups and Baly-sensei told them that they would eventually fight with an invention known as a dummy-hollow to prepare them for the real thing.

When that day came, everyone was more exited than usual. Everyone in the class was restless. Baly-sensei led them to a portal that would lead them to the real world. They were to go there to fight the dummy-hollows. Sasuke and Kiku had pointed out the problems with going to the real world.

"Real Hollows might sense their reiatsu."

"They might damage the land and attract the attention of the living."

"So much concentrated reiatsu might damage the living"

"Real Hollows might sense their reiatsu."

They were assured, however, that there were enough precautions to make sure of their safety and there were plenty of teachers to help out. The training section was a complex structure of buildings, giving them different fighting conditions that they might encounter in the real world. To any living person who might stumble upon the complex, it would look like a ring of stone ruins and of no particular notice. **(1)**

The goal of the exercise was to find and kill as many dummy-hollows as they could. The teachers were watching to make sure no one got severely hurt or cheated.

As soon as the bell sounded, Sasuke and his group set off running toward the center of the complex.

"That way," Sasuke reasoned, "We can be close to everything."

"That's right," Nadakai agreed, "We are at a strategic point in the complex. If anyone wants to get anywhere, they have to go through us."

They stood, backs to each other, to see from every angle.

"There!" Nadakai shouted, "To the left!"

They took off to where he was pointing. They followed the shape until it came to a stop in an ally.

Daisuke identified it, "Spider-like, low-leveled. It has no special talents. Easy."

"Good, let's go." Nadakai responded and all three of them got their practice swords ready.

The dummy-hollow leaped at them, but they were ready. It was Daisuke that lifted his sword up when it was in the air, barely scratching the mask. Sasuke was above it and stabbed down, separating the mask from the head.

"Woohoo. One down, plenty more to go!" Nadakai yelled, punching the air with his fist.

Suddenly, the complex started to shake. The hollow alarm went off, signaling that hollows had indeed found their way into the complex. Some teachers started to fight them off while others herded the students toward the gates.

The group started to run to the gate, but were stopped by a giant eagle-hollow. It poised to strike, but milliseconds before it did, it was struck by a beam of red light, rendering it motionless. They watched as Iwao-sensei appeared and stabbed the hollow in the center of its mask. It screeched and disappeared.

"You three, get to the gate now!" He yelled to them. They nodded and continued their run for safety. However a shout from behind them caught Sasuke's attention.

"No!"

It was Iwao-sensei. Sasuke turned to find himself looking into the eyes of a creature he had hoped to never see again. It was humanoid, with large bat-like wings. It had red eyes and dark slash over its nose. It was him. In its arms, he held a limp Daisuke. Daisuke's eyes were wide and his mouth was open in a silent scream. The hollow simply smirked at him, dropped the body and flew away.

"Daisuke-kun! Daisuke-kun! Wake up! No, you can't be dead, you can't!" For all his talk, Nadakai had never seen a comrade die. Sasuke did not speak. He only looked numbly at his roommate's unmoving body, knowing he was dead.

They brought his body back to soul society. Daisuke had been the only casualty. Casualty. As if he wasn't even a person. He was a casualty, a statistic for the government to process and say 'We'll do better next time'. A small funeral was held for him. He didn't have a mother or a father to mourn him. Only three close friends.

Kiku was so depressed that she quit the academy, she chose to leave and not have to face the fact that more of her friends will die; she will die. Nadakai survived, but he is quieter, less enthusiastic about learning to kill. Sasuke was the best off. It seemed to him that his friends were naïve about what being a shinigami meant, just like many of the children training to be ninjas did not realize that they would have to kill and watch their comrades killed. Sasuke knew this. Sasuke also knew that they shouldn't have to go through this; the pain of losing a friend.

Sasuke realized that it wasn't just that he was used to it. One should never become used to watching friends die. He realized that Daisuke was not truly his friend. When had he asked Daisuke about his life? When had he been nice? When had Sasuke tried to become close to Daisuke, to call him his friend?

Never.

That's when.

If Naruto were here, he would have known everything about Daisuke. He would have known that Daisuke had no parents. He would have known Daisuke's favorite food, and color. Naruto would have saved Daisuke. Sasuke should have saved Daisuke. If Sasuke were half as good as Naruto was, he would have saved Daisuke.

Sasuke ended up practically locking himself in the library, going through every tome time and again. It was three days before he found anything. It was surprisingly in a history book. It told of the King of Shinigami. The way to surpass any law passed by the shinigami council was to appeal to the King. The only way to do that was to either get promoted past Captain rank or to create The Key. Sasuke tore out the page of the book and headed back to his room to contemplate.

He needed a way to make the key. Getting promoted was too risky, he could die before accomplishing his goal. But how was he supposed to find it? He needed to both find it and protect it and keep it a secret from the captain commander.

He reached the door to his room but as he was reaching for the key, he noticed a presence in the room. He slammed the door open to find a boy, a bit younger than him, unpacking. His new roommate. The boy had dark hair and dark eyes. He would be impossible to pick out if it weren't for his bright smile that didn't go away, even when he looked up from his work in alarm as the door opened.

"Oh, hello," he said nervously, "Do you live here? Well of course you live here, you had a key. So you must be my new roommate. It's really nice to meet you." He rambled on, "Oh, I should introduce myself shouldn't I. Sometimes I forget these things. I actually forget a lot of things. Anyway my name is Shigekuni Genryuusai Yamamoto, and some day I'm going to be the Captain Commander!"

**(1) – Can anyone guess what it is?**


End file.
